Natural Bridge, New York
In the mid- to late 1970s, Shore traveled the country by car photographing the banal vernacular details of the national scene-from main streets and parking lots to office buildings and apartment complexes. Inspired by the sweeping documentary projects of Walker Evans and Robert Frank, Shore's quiet, almost subdued sensibility differed greatly from the gritty social commentaries of his predecessors; he was also working in color at a time when it was considered vulgar, beneath the realm of serious art photography. In addition to his remarkably assured palette, Shore was also well aware of recent photo-based Conceptual Art by Ed Ruscha and Dan Graham that chronicled the depopulated and commercially overrun spaces of middle America. The results-such as this harmonic convergence between a patch of grass and a beat-up Plymouth on a suburban street-were deceptively straightforward yet formally refined, and opened the door for photographers working in color, from Nan Goldin to Thomas Struth.
Artwork Details
- Title: Natural Bridge, New York
- Artist: Stephen Shore (American, born 1947)
- Date: 1974, printed 2003
- Medium: Chromogenic print
- Dimensions: Image: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Harriett Ames Charitable Trust Gift, 2003
- Object Number: 2003.452
- Rights and Reproduction: © Stephen Shore
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.